In this week’s Minor Happenings, the IBI's Tony Lastoria takes a look at the surging Bobby Bradley out in Arizona and talks about how “special” he looks and why the Indians are excited about him. He also looks into the strong season to date from lefty Sean Brady, the suddenly red hot Francisco Miguel in Arizona, the quality season Duke von Schamann has put forth, provides tons of comments from the front office on players at Double-A Akron like Will Roberts, Jordan Smith, Anthony Gallas, Shawn Armstrong, Joe Colon and more!

James Ramsey did not get off to the best start in his Cleveland career, but he did his best to erase those first five games Thursday night. Meanwhile, farther south, Logan Vick continued his Carolina renaissance as he keeps benefiting from some good fortune after some wretched BABIP luck earlier in the season. Finally, even farther south and out to the west, Sicnarf Loopstok did his best to force a season's worth of performance into two games. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps all this and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

Akron righthander Will Roberts scattered six hits and allowed just one run in seven innings Thursday night as the RubberDucks completed a three-game series sweep with a 3-1 victory over the New Britain Rock Cats at Canal Park. Roberts (11-11) continued building his new career-high in wins with his 11th of the season. It was also his second against the Rock Cats (55-61).

This is a new feature piece here at the IBI that specifically looks at some of the prospects that have maybe not had as much attention they deserve for a variety of reasons but who are interesting or are coming onto the scene. This week the IBI's Tony Lastoria decided to focus in on an upper level pitcher who has really come on strong the last two seasons and established himself as one of the Indians better bullpen prospects. That person is Louis Head. Tony provides the details on his stuff, how good he is, what he is working on, his future and much more...

No matter how many times it is said, patience is really the name of the game when it comes to prospects. Even when it comes to a second round pick like Mitch Brown, jumping ship after fewer than two full professional seasons makes no sense. Brown may not be a finished product, but most prospects are not; otherwise they would be in the major leagues. Prospects in Brown's position are looking for growth and he has definitely shown that this year. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps Brown's dominant outing, LeVon Washington's offensive outburst, and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

The Akron RubberDucks scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth, including a Jake Lowery solo home run, in order to beat the New Britain Rock Cats, 6-5, in walk off fashion. The RubberDucks totaled 12 hits as every starter tallied at least one hit in the game. After Joseph Colon tossed five solid innings, Enosil Tejada benefited from the late rally to pick up the win.

Michael Bourn's rehab assignment began on Tuesday with the Akron RubberDucks and is scheduled to through next Tuesday. assignment. The IBI's Spencer Davies briefly spoke with Bourn about the team and his health ad provides the details after the jump...

A two-RBI double by Jordan Smith paired with a seven-inning outing by Duke von Schamann gave the Akron RubberDucks the momentum for a comeback 3-2 victory over the New Britain Rock Cats on Tuesday evening at Canal Park. A homer parked by Reynaldo Rodriguez gave the Rock Cats (55-59) an early 2-0 lead in the first. The pair of runs would be New Britain’s only in the evening.

The WAR Room is back again, bringing you the 2014 advanced stats for every Cleveland minor leaguer. After looking at the pitchers last week, today we focus on the hitters. In particular, Jim Piascik focuses on the success Francisco Lindor and Erik Gonzalez have found since their respective promotions to Columbus and Akron. Join Jim as he goes in-depth on the advanced stats for Cleveland's minor leaguers and takes you into The WAR Room.

Not every night in the Cleveland organization can be filled with eye-catching performances, as sometimes each team has a collective down night. That was the case Saturday, but while any insane two-homer or nine-inning shutout outings were absent, there were still some interesting performances to behold. Join Arthur Kinney as he recaps those performances, including Zach Walters highlighting Around the Farm for the second straight night, and takes you Around the Farm.

Harrisburg right-hander Paolo Espino had plenty of dominant pitching performances during his years with the Cleveland Indians organization, including a franchise-record 24 wins for Akron. After watching him twirl eight masterful innings for the Senators on Saturday night in a 3-2 win over the RubberDucks, one thing became clear: It was more fun when he was on our side.

After struggling at the outset of the 2014 campaign, Akron RubberDucks outfielder Jordan Smith has really turned things around in the second half, which included hitting for the cycle last weekend against Reading. Join the IBI's Jake Dungan as he talks in-depth with Smith as well as manager Dave Wallace about the outfielder's recent success and what he needs to do to maintain it.

The trade deadline has come and gone with Cleveland adding to two interesting prospects to their farm system. James Ramsey and Zach Walters will make their organizational debuts in the coming days, but on Thursday, the stage was set for two players on the opposite ends of the prospect spectrum; one at the beginning and one near the end. Join Jim Piascik as he breaks down Bobby Bradley's season in the Arizona League, Adam Miller's shutdown outing in Akron, and much more as he takes you Around the Farm.

With the Harrisburg Senators leading by one going into the ninth, the Akron RubberDucks put three on the board to take the lead with a half inning to play. Harrisburg answered with two of its own to force extra innings before winning in the 10th inning, 10-9. Shawn Armstrong was credited with a blown save while Louis Head got the loss.

Duke von Schamann went seven scoreless innings for the RubberDucks. Jesus Aguilar combined a homer, a double, and two walks for the Clippers. Jerrud Sabourin did the same for the Mudcats. But despite a night chock full of elite performances, none topped Tyler Cloyd's no-hitter in Columbus. Join Jim Piascik as he recaps the very busy night in the organization and takes you Around the Farm.

The Akron RubberDucks and Bowie Baysox played to a scoreless stalemate through four innings before the RubberDucks piled on four runs in the next four frames. Akron benefited from nine total hits and strong pitching throughout the game. Duke von Schamann picked up the win after tossing seven shutout innings and striking out six Bowie batters.

A three-run seventh inning and the starting pitching of righthander Zach Davies propelled the Bowie Baysox to a 5-1 win over the Akron RubberDucks Tuesday evening at Canal Park. Already leading 2-1, Bowie extended their advantage in the seventh with an RBI double by David Freitas off Akron reliever Jordan Cooper, sending Glynn Davis home. The Baysox would tack on two more runs in the inning, taking a comfortable 5-1 lead.

The RubberDucks (59-51) were swept by at Richmond in a battle of the Eastern League Western division that gave the Flying Squirrels some breathing room at the top. Akron continued their road trip by splitting a four-game set with the Reading Fightin Phils, and the team began a series with the Bowie Baysox on Monday night with a loss, 12-4. The IBI's Spencer Davies talked to Erik Gonzalez in his latest notebook....

Available IBI Books

The 2014 Cleveland Indians Baseball Insider book featuring the Indians' Top 100 Prospects and more is now available. Also, previous editions from 2008-2012 are also available at a discounted rate. Just click on the book image for more information. Thanks again for all the support!